Euphrates

'As a distinct single entity, Syria has ceased to exist,' analysts say

(Newser) -
As Syria's bloody civil war grinds on, the country is now split into three parts—each boasting its own flags, security agencies, and judicial system—and the longer the conflict lasts, analysts say, the more difficult it will be to piece together a coherent Syrian state from the wreckage....
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The Tigris-Euphrates Basin is losing a lot of water, and fast

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Tucked into a piece on the drastically dropping water levels in the Middle East's Tigris-Euphrates Basin comes this theory: The drop helped spur the Syrian civil war. As Joshua Hammer explains for Smithsonian , a pair of satellites tasked with measuring groundwater found that the basin lost the equivalent of...
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Turkish, Syrian dams, Iraqi practices blamed

(Newser) -
Iraqis are suffering as the Euphrates river dwindles, a result of Turkish and Syrian dams upstream, a 2-year drought, and Iraqi’s own mismanagement of its water supply, the New York Times reports. Farmers and fishermen have been ruined and key grain-growing land desiccated. “The old men say it’...
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Two GIs remain missing after ambush in Iraq

(Newser) -
A militant Islamic website says it will release a video showing the capture last month of three American soldiers. The video shows the kidnapping as well as the ID cards of the two soldiers who are still missing, says an organization that monitors militant websites. The third soldier was later...
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Troops continue to hunt for remaining two GIs missing since May 12

(Newser) -
The US military has identified the body pulled from the Euphrates River yesterday as one of the three missing American soldiers. DNA evidence is still pending, but a commanding officer identified the remains as Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., a 20-year-old gunner from Torrance, California.
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(Newser) -
Iraqi police found the body of a man dressed in a U.S. military uniform in the Euphrates river today. A soldier from the unit that lost three soldiers earlier in the month is en route to see if he can identify the body. If the body belongs to one...
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